Thursday, January 23, 2014

Is It Legal To Play Online Poker In India?

Information technology is seen as an enabler by
business community of India. As the use of IT in India is increasing,
entrepreneurs have started exploring the cyberspace to establish new
ventures like e-commerce, Bitcoins
exchanges, online poker websites, etc. All this is
happening without a clear cut legal framework as we have no dedicated
online
gaming and gambling laws and regulations in India and this
field is still evolving. Although the traditional gambling in India
is governed by colonial laws yet we have no dedicated laws for online
gambling in India.

Similarly, there are no dedicated laws
and regulations for online poker in India as on date.
Further, there are no specific judicial decisions pertaining to
playing of online poker in India. Both players of pokers and websites
hosting the poker games are in a fix to decide whether to play and
host the poker game on a website in India. Till date the position of
playing online poker in India is a grey area.

Since the area is developing there are very few
cyber
law firms and cyber lawyers in India who can provide
effective legal support and services in this regard. The Information
Technology Act, 2000 is the sole cyber law of India and very few law
firms and lawyers are practicing in this novel field. Even among
those practicing the cyber law field, there are only handful of
lawyers who can take up the matter pertaining to online gaming and
gambling in India.

According to Perry4Law,
the exclusive techno legal ICT law firm of India, to start with, any
online poker website of India that wishes to engage in legal business
must comply with Indian laws like Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973, Indian Information Technology Act, 2000,
the Public Gambling Act, 1867, Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
1999, etc

Taxation, money laundering and payment gateways
issues must also be taken care of by those proposing to open online
poker websites in India. Further, various guidelines and rules issued
from time to time must also be complied with by online poker websites
of India opines Perry4Law.

The crux of the legal position seems to be that if
an online poker website is following the laws of India while
operating in India, it is legal to play online poker in India.
However, if the laws of India are breached during such online
presence both the cyber law of India and other applicable state laws
may be attracted.

Online gaming industry is booming in India and it is
going to be a multi billion dollar industry in India. In order
to capture this market the online poker entrepreneurs must comply
with all the applicable laws of India and consult some good techno
legal firm before launching their websites.